1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to cattle guards, and particularly to a cattle guard which is easily assembled and disassembled so as to facilitate installation and maintenance of the guard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,125,095, issued Jan. 19, 1915, to W. J. Hickey; 2,938,711, issued May 31, 1960, to E. T. Luff; and 3,283,745, issued Nov. 8, 1966, to F. Vittetoe disclose examples of cattle guards wherein a plurality of rails are arranged across a plurality of substantially parallel supports. Of these known livestock or cattle guards which prevent livestock from passing through gaps in a fence, and the like, those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,125,095 and 2,938,711 employ various brackets and fasteners for anchoring the rails to the associated supports.
The arrangement set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,745, on the other hand, uses generally triangular shaped rails disposed in similarly shaped notches provided on the supports such that the rails may rock relative to their associated supports and cause waste material to be shaken from the rails so as not to create a hazard for the livestock. In other words, the arrangement set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,745 is actually a slatted flooring for livestock, and not actually a guard. The difference is that the slats in flooring are spaced close enough together to permit the hooves of an animal to tread on the rails or slats without falling through, while the rails in a cattle guard are spaced such that the hooves of the animal will necessarily fall between the rails and thus discourage the animal from passing across the guard.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,228,376, issued Jan. 11, 1966, to W. J. Conover, discloses a slatted flooring of different construction than, but serving a similar purpose as, the flooring disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,283,745, while other examples of cattle guards can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,345,145, issued June 29, 1920, to J. I. Dominguez; 1,704,085, issued Mar. 5, 1929, to J. H. Holmgreen; and 2,672,123, issued Mar. 16, 1954, to E. J. Berscheit.